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[fighting game] Kinetic Damage [Released]

Discussion in 'Made With Unity' started by n0mad, Mar 18, 2009.

?

Which real martial art would you love to master ?

  1. Muay Thai

    54 vote(s)
    15.4%
  2. Ninjutsu

    76 vote(s)
    21.7%
  3. Taekwondo

    35 vote(s)
    10.0%
  4. Tai Chi Chuan / Qi Gong Jin

    22 vote(s)
    6.3%
  5. Jeet Kun Do

    30 vote(s)
    8.6%
  6. Pencak Silat

    8 vote(s)
    2.3%
  7. Boxing

    22 vote(s)
    6.3%
  8. Shaolin Kung Fu

    77 vote(s)
    22.0%
  9. I don't like martial arts / fighting games

    26 vote(s)
    7.4%
  1. Demigiant

    Demigiant

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    Again, I love when you talk about your work, and this one is superbly interesting, HAD to put it in my newly-born Insights Guides HOBlog page :) Thanks a lot for sharing.
     
  2. n0mad

    n0mad

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    I'm honored ! Thanks !
     
  3. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Dev Blog update

    Hi guys !

    Nearly finished the AI, and it's shaping exactly like I wanted it to be, I'm really excited :) I'm regularly testing AI vs AI fights to tweak the martial arts overall balance, and often finding myself saying at my screen fight supporter stuff like "Come on you AI guy ! you can do it, just land that strike at the right time and you'll get the advantage !". Pretty hilarious sometimes.


    To tell you, I've even discovered some neat combos thanks to some AI on-the-run decisions.
    One of them that impressed me the most was :
    - AI_1 makes a dash towards AI_2 to start a combo chain
    - instead of retreating or guarding, AI_2 placed itself in a counter waiting posture
    - AI_1 strike, AI_2 counters, AI_1 is dazed for less than a second
    - AI_2 sees an opportunity to chain with another strike
    - AI_2 combo this strike with a special ("Chi explosion"), AI_1 is stunned again
    - AI_2 detects that the histun opens a new window to chain with another special ("Palm Force", pushes back the target 2 meters away)
    - AI_2 sees that it still have room for yet another final strike before AI_1 recovery, as this Martial Art (TaiChiChuan) does have an insane range, so it strikes.

    So in the end, in 5 seconds, I witnessed a furious and totally unexpected counter chain of actions from AI_2 against what was supposed to be an aggressive combo chain from AI_1.
    She ended with receiving a 5-hit counter + 2nd strike + explosion + ejection + strike, and twice the damage she intended to output on her target ;-)
    She would have been a ball, it would have litterally been a homerun :p

    Balance wise, there are no infinite combos, as expected (thanks to strict frame data), and each Martial Art feels very different from each other. There is also another core mechanic that will prevent from chaining powerful stuff infinitely, which I will unveil later next month.
    I've also pushed the 3 AI stats even further : as says the Advanced AI video, there are 3 different stats used for the AI decisions. As I didn't want to make it feel like a set-in-stone "character", I've written a function that will redistribute those stat values on the fly, depending on different events.

    * For example, if the AI detects that it's been hammered by its target for more than 3 seconds, it will redistribute some of its stat named Aggressivity towards Reactivity, and therefore will be more inclined to counters and defense rather than attacks. Sort of "S***, I'm being beaten hard, I better wake up NOW".

    * Another example would be if the AI "feels" its DPS (damage per second, yes it is calculated ^^) is way below the target, it redistributes some Reactivity towards Aggressivity, so it will go more toe-to-toe. Analysis in this case wouldn't be touched, because it is more important than Reactivity to make an efficient strike (like deciding to strike feet if target is used to keep standing).

    There are actually more than 20 different case scenarios of AI readjustment, so you will really need to pay some attention to how AI reacts if you wanna win, and adapt your fighting strategy on the fly too.
    I've limited that redistribution to 3 points over a total 5 x 3 (Analysis, Reactivity, Aggressivity), so each AI fighter will still keep a "base personality" over adaptation.


    I'll post a video of AI vs AI combats when they will be finished to demonstrate all the above.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2012
  4. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    That is sounding awesome every time you post... i can wait to play :)
     
  5. InSpire™

    InSpire™

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    Very Cool, the animations are great. Love it.
     
  6. Finjitzu

    Finjitzu

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    Loving this. It must be so cool to watch the AI vs AI fights after coding it.
     
  7. TehWut

    TehWut

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    Genius project! The AI actually sounds really cool, can't wait to play it!
    btw, don't know if we are supposed to interpret that like "keep your dreams down to a realistic level" or "keep on working on your dream!"
    :p

    also, I haven't been following up the thread for a while. Does the AI learn from mistakes? for example, could it learn that it's kick attack is ineffective against the player after being blocked for a certain amount of time?
     
  8. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Thanks guys !
    Yes I admit it's pretty exciting to see the CPU assemble those little bits of codes and functions into an unexpected *working* result, like this scenario in my previous post :)
    Actually I've designed the AI framework to be fully extendable to much more complex algorithms, with little to no overhead (I've completely rewritten the Unity Coroutine system to my own for that, and created highly optimized data structures. I'll post an example of such structure later on).

    Thank you Tehwut :)
    Haha, in fact it is both ! There's a saying in french which fits well : "Live your dreams but don't dream your life."

    Precisely !
    It learns and adapt not only from its mistakes, but from predictions about how you play, and deeper analysis (the more the Analysis AI stat is high, the deeper the analysis will go).

    A good example would be this point in Advanced AI video (make sure to turn on subtitles for AI processing info) :
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GgOpD8t-NjM#t=87s
    (it's going a bit fast so I admit it's not easy to catch, even with subtitles)

    1) The AI suddenly retreats, "observe" what you did in the last minute, and deduce a new strategy about it. In this case, I was intentionally focusing on her head -> she comes back toe-to-toe, launching a crouched strike while I was doing yet another head strike -> I'm hit.

    2) During that "observation", the AI also saw that the average range of my strikes were approximately 1.2 meters long. Therefore after the crouch kick, she just searches for a strike that would reach longer than 1.2 meters, so that even if I'm striking, she would get the advantage over me by striking at the same time. This leads to myself receiving a strong reverse kick in the head at 1:42, while I was trying to hit her with a stomach kick.

    3) Then at 1:53, she sees I can't stop being crouched for some seconds -> Just when I try to land a crouch kick, she jumps in place, waits for the best moment during jump to strike, and delivers a jump kick in my face at 1:54 (crouch guard is ineffective against jump kicks).

    4) At 1:57, she sees I'm adapting and going to standing strikes again -> she decides to attack my feet, below my head kicks. (1:57 to 1:59 with a series of light crouch punch and crouch dodging).
    I will take yet another crouch strong kick at 2:11, as a reaction over a standing roundhouse kick.

    And that's only maybe 30% of all the different scenarios coming from the stat name "Analysis".
    Besides, there are also some decisions driven by the 2 other stats (Aggressivity and Reactivity).
    All of these being mixed on the fly according to the base "temper" of the current AI configuration, and according to how it redistribute its points, as explained in previous post.
     
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2012
  9. TehWut

    TehWut

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    WOW. That is some pretty serious stuff, I have no idea how you can up with this crazy logic!! Having to calculate all these factors, like analyzing different values, inputting them into counters, and THEN calculating the output based on all of these numbers. This is really great work, Fighting AI has been the question of many a game dev for years, and you seem to have mastered it. Props!
     
  10. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Thanks TehWut ! Actually the AI code is maybe 7000 lines long :)

    To improve calculation speed, I also had to find myself some sort of trick with redundant variables to get over complicated routines :
    Sometimes, you need to get the same calculation several times in a row, during the whole lifecycle of an AI calculation routine (like, getdistance between fighters, or get hit bounds, get hit points, get speed, estimate if a certain chain of animations will hit the target at a certain time, etc). And in the end, this might represent a huge charge on CPU, as it's run several times in the same frame to determine the best choice to make.

    So I created a data format for each base type (float, string, bool, custom Enums) that I needed to calculate, which would not calculate its asked value more than twice per frame (or per a specified duration, for longer lifecycles). For example, a float optimized structured would be like this :

    Code (csharp):
    1. public delegate float DelegateFloatCalc();
    2.  
    3. public struct calc_float{
    4.     private float Value;
    5.     private float calc_time_delay;
    6.     private float calc_time;
    7.     private DelegateFloatCalc calc;
    8.     public float val {
    9.         get {
    10.             if (calc_time == 0f || Time.time-calc_time > calc_time_delay) {
    11.                 Value = calc();
    12.                 calc_time = Time.time;
    13.             }
    14.             return Value;
    15.         }
    16.     }
    17.     public calc_float(DelegateFloatCalc calc){
    18.         this.calc_time_delay = 0.05f;
    19.         this.Value = 0f;
    20.         this.calc_time = 0f;
    21.         this.calc = calc;
    22.     }
    23.     public calc_float(DelegateFloatCalc calc, float calc_time_delay){
    24.         this.calc_time_delay = calc_time_delay;
    25.         this.Value = 0f;
    26.         this.calc_time = 0f;
    27.         this.calc = calc;
    28.     }
    29. }
    Where DelegateFloatCalc would be your complicated calculation routine, returning a float. Like for example the exact estimated position of a fighter in N seconds, consdering tons of parameters like speed, bezier, camera limit, collisions, etc.

    So here, whenever you're asking for the only public value of the struct, "val", it determines if you did ask that result lately (by default, in the last 0.05 seconds). If you did, it simply returns the already calculated value. If not, it calculates it again. And if you build the struct with a specific delay value, it waits for that delay. (For example, it's useless to calculate the average damage of a player more than every 3 seconds)

    The best part of it is that you can put anonymous methods as constructor parameter ! No need to create super specific methods just for one value to optimize. For example :

    Code (csharp):
    1. calc_float veryCPUintensiveCalc = new calc_float(delegate {
    2.     float result;
    3.     //insert a very complicated and CPU heavy calculation here
    4.     return  result; });
    And there you go, saving a lot of FPS from redundant calculations ;-)
    Whenever you need that float val, you just ask for veryCPUintensiveCalc.val.

    edit : it seems that anonymous methods (delegate) are still asking a bit microseconds to store (not that much, but still), so it is recommanded to use a properly defined function instead.

    By totally redesigning the Unity Coroutine system (using IEnumerator magic, I think mine run 20-30% faster, but it's because Unity's coroutines are managing a lot more stuff like WWW etc) and using the above system, I went from 1.1 ms average frame time (on my PC) to 0.8 ms (+27%).
    AI calculations might the biggest charge on the CPU in games, especially in fighting games where it has to run super quickly, and with a very short delay (here 0.05 to 0.20 seconds) to match the player speed. So huge optimizations are more than required :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2012
  11. nipoco

    nipoco

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    Props to you.
    Amazing that you have such a motivation to work more than 3 years on one project. Even more impressive that you do the whole game by yourself.

    I wish you all the best with this game and that it will eventually pay off.
     
  12. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Thank you NiPoCo, I really appreciate :)
    Thank you guys really, this is motivating me even more to deliver a good product. I'm hurrying my ass off to finish the 4 left martial arts AIs, so I can give you a proper video demo next week.

    /bow
     
  13. Finjitzu

    Finjitzu

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    Will there be a PC version?
     
  14. n0mad

    n0mad

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    This is in my head since a long time, but I'm kind of not enough confident yet about the overall graphical quality to match nowadays PC standards (I was thinking about making it a Facebook game). But you tell me :) It was designed for small mobile screens and tablets, do you think by judging the actual videos that it would be ok on a 30" screen ? (considering there are still shadows missing for characters, and I'll try to enhance their shaders a bit before release).
     
  15. Amuse1

    Amuse1

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    n0mad this game is so cool!Wow much will it cost :D.But anyway,keep up the good work.
     
  16. virror

    virror

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    Of course it should be on PC as well, if the game is good enough, graphics wont matter that much : p
     
  17. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Thanks ! I was aiming at a reasonable price, below the "big boys", but not too low either, like 2.99 $ - 3.99 $ max. I can't really tell until I can really seize how many functionalities will be available at launch, and how it compares to other products :) But the game itself will come as free with 2 martial arts and one level (and maybe local multiplayer, I'll see if it's doable with size constraints). All the other features (6 arts, 7 levels, solo mode, other suprises, etc) will be purchasable as inapp purchase as one unique package.
    I think I won't be able to put all I wanted to put for September, so there may be yet another free update coming at the end of the year (I'm seriously thinking about putting online multiplayer, plus another important feature I can't speak about now).

    Ok then, I'll put that on the "to analyze" list :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 20, 2012
  18. Amuse1

    Amuse1

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    Cool,I will definetly buy it when its released :D.
     
  19. Finjitzu

    Finjitzu

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    Yup not really too concerned about the graphics. I'd just rather play with a 360 controller.

    I was also thinking about your AI vs AI tests. Maybe add that in as a mode in the game? Choose the two characters and watch them fight. Might be amusing.
     
  20. n0mad

    n0mad

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    AI vs AI fights are part of a bigger gamedesign feature that I will reveal come release :)
    Can't say much yet, expect that the way it is implemented, you never saw it in any fighting game before ... ;-)

    Actually to be honest, there are several core gamedesigns that I didn't revealed yet, and which will play a definite role in how Kinetic Damage stands from the other fighting games. I just want to make sure that before the game is different, it is at least matching current standards.
     
  21. MABManZ

    MABManZ

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    You should consider getting gamepad support done well and trying to strike a bundle deal with upcoming Android/iOS Gamepad physical button accessories like the Wikipad Tablet, and gamepads from PowerA, Nyko, or Steelseries.
     
  22. n0mad

    n0mad

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    That's a good idea :)
    Also, I feel how much fighting game fans have always been counter-receptive to handheld fighting games with touch controls, because of touch controls. But something's different with kinetic damage :
    1) controls are not typical fighting game ones, there are no complicated movement to make in order to perform specials. You just push a button with your left thumb to replace regular buttons with specials, with your right thumb you just push the desired one, and it's on. No quarter back, half forward, etc. (I know I'll have to heavily advertise on that, because a lot of gamers refuse to even try mobile fighting games for that reason)
    2) I've designed the whole mechanics so you don't have to frenetically push your buttons. There is a limitation to that, it's more about timing your strikes well than mashing the controls. (one of the not yet revealed mechanics, I'll indeed present it in a video before release)

    I've tested it numerous times, and made it test by different people, and they did feel comfortable with controls. Don't worry about that :)
     
  23. n0mad

    n0mad

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    VOICE ACTORS, Round 1

    Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm super excited to announce that the first batch of voice recording has been operated successfully yesterday night, with some awesome actors. It was a wonderful experience. I'll integrate their voices inside the forthcoming Final AI video, but I wanted to let you know who they are :

    - Antoine Aghroum, actor, writer.



    Antoine has a deep, rounded, punchy voice, and was awesome at working on different intentions, diving into each Martial Art mental world with a great ease. He did a ton of efforts to fully understand which intention to give, at which precise second of each shout. A great moment.

    Contact : Personal Site

    - Jean Dutelle, actor, choreographer, artistic kata performer.



    Jean has been performing and competiting in Artistic Kata for some time now, as you can see in this video from Bercy's 2009 Martial Arts Show :



    He was mindblowing, totally at ease with giving fierce, powerful and tense battle shouts for Kinetic Damage. It was really impressive to hear him perform. The roles weren't a new thing for Jean, thanks to his experience in Martial Arts and demo shouts.



    Contact : Facebook.

    - Marie Sergeant, actress, dancer (from the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique).



    Marie was super good as a female fighter voice actress. She has a range to give smooth, sensual, round tones, but I purposedly asked to be harsh and realistic, and she totally convinced me ! She really lived the different roles, from pain to rage, with high mastery and control. Awesome talent.



    Contact : Facebook.


    ____

    So, it was really a blast, and I would recommend them without an hesitation if you're seeking talented, motivated voice actors. Or even Motion Capture for Jean and Marie ! Don't hesitate to contact them !

    Also, if you're in Paris in september, don't hesitate to take your tickets for Jean's next show (he's the choreographer), Deus Ex Machina, September 15th ! Tickets here.



    Deus Ex Machina Facebook page.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2012
  24. golden_gate

    golden_gate

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    You have assembled a spectacular group of individuals! Your decision to infuse dedicated and creative musicians,entertainers,athletes, etc is really going to make your game have the best playing experience:D:D
     
  25. Tyoma

    Tyoma

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    Jul 23, 2012
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    Hello,
    I was wondering if you could please tell me how you were able to save/load character data (like in the character customization)?
    If you could provide me with the code that would be extra great ><
    Though I would also greatly appreciate a suggestion of where I can find a tutorial.

    Many thanks.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2012
  26. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Hi Tyoma,

    I can't provide you a full code because it's specifically tailored for this game's framework and would need work to strip out specific stuff, but I can tell it's really not that complicated : I just used a database approach. Try to search for SQL/SQLite stuff in C# over the net, I found my own guidelines there (it's really simple, I just used C# builtin DB functions to store, retrieve and manage the data).
    There are also some pretty good SQLite addons in the Asset Store if you don't want to care about that part.
     
  27. Tyoma

    Tyoma

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    ThankYouThankYouThankYouThankYou ><
    I greatly appreciate the quick reply.
    I'll look up information on that right away. ^^
     
  28. n0mad

    n0mad

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  29. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Ladies and Gents, I'm happy to release a new video, this time about Levels Sounds Ambience :



    I worked hard to chose, mix and implement dynamic soundscapes, so that every fight stage feels living, breathing and motivating.
    The hardest part was to make the ambiences not too present yet not too distant, so that the bg music and the fight SFX would still be on a high accoustic priority.
    Most of these sounds are triggered from a dynamic event (car passing, crowd reacting to a hit, robot stomping the ground, etc), made by a script.

    To follow in a few hours : AI vs. AI video, with the first 3 voice actors being implemented, and special outfits.
     
  30. n0mad

    n0mad

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    [reposted on next page with 720p]
     
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2012
  31. Demigiant

    Demigiant

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    Pure awesomeness!!! :) The business center robot is the best, and I love how the music volume is gently lowered while the fight is more intense, and raised again after that.
     
  32. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Thanks ! :)
    (The fadeout effect from music is made by my soundcard's autocompression, unfortunately)

    edit : I'm just taking the link down for a few minutes, re-uploading a 720p version !
    edit 2 : done ! Reposting the whole thing so there's no confusion.
     
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2012
  33. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Aaaaaand ... here we are !

    This is pure AI vs AI.
    As a bonus, I also added each martial art special outfit ! If you want 'em each pieces, you will have to fight hard ! ;-)
    More infos to come.

    Enjoy !

     
  34. Finjitzu

    Finjitzu

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    Super impressive!
     
  35. Alex Cruba

    Alex Cruba

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    Silly question, is Kali near to Pencak Silat? I really wanna play moves like this at 0.50... I needed around 50 times to check the move "a little" lol.



    By the way... Do you think it's possible to "tune up" the camera a bit? The only reason for me being a big Virtua Fighter fan is the real strategy part and ---> the camera! I think it woul'd not be that hard as long as I think you work with 3d models:

     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2012
  36. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Hi Alex,
    1) In fact, I changed Pencak Silat to Krav Maga one year ago, when I realized Pencak was too close to classical punch/foot martial arts visually (and KD was missing a grappler). Krav Maga is definitely looking like that moment in that video (you can check all the armlocks, submissions etc in the "All 8 martial arts combos" video in the very first post). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Kali was an armed martial art at its core.

    2) Ah, you mean having a rotating camera in a full 3D world ? I'm afraid it can't be done (for now), as I designed everything (especially environments) on a 2.5D plan :)
    But if the game gets bigger after release, this could be a good idea, and would not harm the 2.5D gamedesign.

    I was a big fan of VF4 too ! In fact I spent so many coins in a Paris arcade machine, only to play Lei Fei :p I even designed the Shaolin Kung Fu style (and combos) around what I loved in Lei Fei animations : rigor, power, symbolic stances.

    Also, if you're a fan of strategy, I hope you'll like several new fighting designs I put into Kinetic Damage.
    I didn't reveal any of them for now (and I admit that due to that, the game "only" looks like a regular fighting game), but believe me, they will let hardcore strategists to min-max every single move, giving them a real advantage. Even special moves do involve some higher strategy.

    I'll give full infos very soon.
     
    Last edited: Jul 26, 2012
  37. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Well, to thank you for your interest in this blog, let me show you just one base special of one martial art, to show you how strategic a fight can be.

    This is Tai Chi Chuan's Qi Burn (sorry for the lines, it's taken from ingame tooltip in Editor) :

    $qiburn.jpg

    How is this strategic ? Well, the QiBurn damage spreads itself over time : this means that if you want to max out the stack ramp up, you'll have to hit as many times as possible in the shortest possible timespan.
    Where you'll have to be strategic is that Tai Chi Chuan style is slow. So you'd better find the best way to chain several hits under 3 seconds.

    Now, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as some Tai Chi Chuan special moves will use this debuff ;) (making you want to lose even less time)
    Thing is, players who don't want to burn their brain to such mechanics won't have to. They can just learn the basics, and just try to play like a regular fighting game. They might be at a disadvantage against hardcore min-maxers, but not too much, as fight pace is still very fast so reflexes can still be a winning measure.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2012
  38. golden_gate

    golden_gate

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    The combination of the character voice overs and background noise/music with the existing environments you designed makes this an awesome gaming
    experience.

    I also like how you use the dynamic UI's displaying the combat information. A lot more information than the progess/health bar which increases or decreases
    with no apparent reason in some of the existing fighting games.

    I see how you fused in some images and dynamic character images...

    Budhha in the house n0mad style! A nice visual effect;);)

    $Kinetic_power.png $Budda_kinetic.png
     
  39. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Thanks my friend,
    Sharp eye ! ;)

    Yep, in this video you can see a few hints here and there about some mechanics that are soon to be announced :)
    I had to provide such visual, clear infos about powerups etc (like the 4-arms Buddha style icon), in order to delete any confusion caused by the quick pace of the fights.

    Oh, I can also see a "Perfect Strike" in only 2 hits in the second picture ? That has been a lucky strike ... :p
     
  40. golden_gate

    golden_gate

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    I just watched this replay from the olympics ( + 80Kg) "Human vs Human" and the first thing I thought about was Kinetic Damage! I can't wait to try to beat the CPU!!!!
    $Human_2.png $Human_1.png
     
  41. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Human vs Human, haha good catch :p
    Yeah incredible match !
    Here is the link for people who want to watch it : http://www.francetv.fr/sport/les-jeux-olympiques-2012/direct?v=1440&t=9300
    This is Taekwondo at its best.

    To be honest, I inspired myself a lot from such TKD matches to design Kinetic Damage, and the AI behaviour. As TKD involves a lot of tactics, while maintaining high need of reactivity and speed, this can be a true inspiration for the mindset of a hardcore fighting gamer.

    Ha, this kick in the snapshots you took, it is in the game :p



    Actually it's precisely the very first strike of the AI vs AI video :



    If Italia's Molfetta didn't fall after that first hit, maybe Gabon's Obame could have landed that 2nd strike combo in the AI vs AI vid :p
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2012
  42. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Ladies and Gentlemen, the Career Mode (view only, no HUD yet).
    I'll let you guess what the solo game is all about :)

    $CareerMode.png

    I also totally recoded and remade the Char Creator. Now with more intuitive controls, nicer buttons, and most of all a far better memory management (= no more lag because of huge texture/model caching between steps).

     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2012
  43. golden_gate

    golden_gate

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2009
    Posts:
    81
    I can't wait to enter the Grand Strike Casino! That sure is a nice layout... The combination of it with The Fight Lab and Olympic Resort is like a virtual world.

    Regarding the char creator... The UI design is nice.. It looks extremely user friendly.. background music is pleasant...
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2012
  44. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Thanks :)
    In fact, the 3 different world places are litterally a combination ^^
    That means when you've played a game in the Lab, you might want to play a game in the Olympic ... and then bump into the Casino. I made it so there are intrications between those 3 worlds ;-)

    I'll explain more clearly quite soon.
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2012
  45. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Some visual improvements to Career Mode view, a new section (Dojo), and .... another hint at what you will be able to do in this mode ;)

    $CareerMode.png
     
  46. SinisterMephisto

    SinisterMephisto

    Joined:
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    Posts:
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    How easy are the inputs in the game. 4 buttons seem alot. Did you consider SNK/Game boy style pressure buttons? Street fighter on the Game boy change a button from light to heavy if you held the button a bit longer.

    I really like the animations especially the girls hip thrusting in the back ground.
     
  47. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Hi, and thanks for your comment :)
    Actually, inputs are only tap or hold, no need for complicated stuff like quarter back etc to make a special. I chosed the traditional 4 buttons strikes (fast punch, strong punch, fast kick, strong kick) because I wanted to give precision to choices. Holding->stronger mechanic is a very good one, but it couldn't fit to the pace of the game : most Martial Arts here have very fast launching times, even for strong strikes (from 0.05s to 0.2s), so the holding time would be too short for the player to make a difference with just tapping.

    Plus, each Art does have 4 specials, and I'm using a "hold button with left thumb" mechanic to turn those 4 normal strikes buttons into special. So 4 buttons was mandatory.
    Specials are as easy to activate than that. Just hold a button with left thumb, and you have access to special buttons. Then push any special button, and bam, your special is triggered. I'm focusing more on instinct than finger agility.

    If it can reassure you, I had several types of gamers of all ages to test the game, and 100% of them (some not even being gamers at all) did tell me at first : "I like the controls, they are responsive".

    I should post a complete visualization of controls when my video about them will be ready. There are some unique HUD mechanics that I'll have to present via a video quite soon.
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2012
  48. n0mad

    n0mad

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    Soundtrack about to be released on 1st October 2012 as a full album, on every digital platform !
    Facebook : www.facebook.com/BuckBottleneckMetacortex

    Sample from ELECTRON, one of the dozen titles to be released :

     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2012
  49. n0mad

    n0mad

    Joined:
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    Hi guys ! Actual state of the game, everything is finished, except :

    - a proper tutorial : some basic fight rules are nothing new from your traditional fighting game, but some other are completely new and never seen before ! There's a visual manual that you can consult during any pause menu, but I want to create a better hand-holding, interactive learning experience. This shouldn't take too long.
    - bluetooth/wifi multiplayer ! This shouldn't take too long aswell, every bunch of code and data are object oriented in Kinetic Damage's framework, so network interfacing should be quite smooth to implement.

    I didn't produce any video showcase during last month because I've been working my ass off to finish the solo mode asap. And it's quite a fun mode actually !
    You got character progression, partner hiring (yep, you can hire an AI, more details coming next week ^^), item/class outfit shop, and tons of different fight events (25 base ones, each modulated by 5 levels of difficulty, which difficulty is modulating the reward). This career mode was designed with casual gaming in mind, but still let you chain event after event without feeling any redundancy.
    I'll create proper showcase videos after tutorial is finished !

    Here are some screenshots of what the Career mode looks like right now :

    $career0.png

    $career1.png

    $career2.png

    $career3.png

    A good example of how I designed the career mode is this last screenshot :
    In order to be more efficient at "Breath Cutter", you might want to strike faster, therefore run succeed at "Rush Hour" before. Or in order to secure a lesser penalty on "Rush Hour", you can insert an "Empower" event beforehand, so you'll start with higher strength, and won't suffer from strength penalty during Rush Hour if you fail to strike often.

    But this "energy refill rate" ... hmmm ... what can it possibly be ? ;-)
    Infos about EVERYTHING I didn't reveal during 3 years, coming SUPER SOON !
    Stay in touch !
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2012
  50. virror

    virror

    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2012
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    2,963
    Must be super exciting to be this close after all this time! : D